In some memory devices, main firmware code for the memory device is stored in physical blocks of memory that are outside of the user space in the memory. A processor in the memory device can load this main firmware from these blocks using computer-executable code stored in read only memory (ROM) in the memory device. The ROM code has limited functionality, as it is developed earlier in the product lifecycle than the main firmware. This functionality is typically limited to physical access, and, as such, the physical blocks of memory that store the main firmware cannot be managed as other system blocks, else the ROM code cannot locate them. Because of this, it can be difficult to perform a write-abort-safe firmware update on such memory devices, since a write-abort-safe firmware update is preferably performed in a “make-before-break” fashion, which can be particularly difficult if the firmware is stored redundantly.